Heartlines
by Poly-chan
Summary: Neal needs to make one choice, one choice that is going to affect the people that are close to his heart. What will he choose and how is that going to affect their lives? AU
1. Chapter 1

_**Title:** Heartlines_  
_**Author:** Poly_  
_**Beta:** Lais_  
_**Summary: **Neal needs to make one choice, one choice that is going to affect the people that are close to his heart. What will he choose and how is that going to affect their lives? AU_  
_**A/n:** English is not my first language, so forgive me for any mistakes and misspellings you may find. Also, this is my first time writing for OUaT, so I hope it is good enough. That said, I hope you enjoy the story. :)_

* * *

_Just keep following!_  
_ The heartlines on your hand!_  
_ Just keep following!_  
_ The heartlines on your hand!_  
_ Keep it up!_  
_ I know you can!_  
_ Just keep following!_  
_ The heartlines on your hand!_  
_ Cause I am  
**Heartlines - Florence + The Machine**  
_

Neal Cassidy strode down the street whistling a song that had been playing on the radio and got stuck on his head. He was in a good mood, looking forward to the Chinese food he was about to get, and also going back home with it. Maybe he could have some quality time with his girlfriend, perhaps later on the night, when their...

"Hey!"

His line of thinking was interrupted by someone – someone that didn't just yelled, but headbutted him! He looked around widely, his breath catching and memories of times where he depended on his fists to stay alive coming back.

He couldn't see who did that, not until the person in question grabbed him by the jacket and took him to the closest dark, creepy alley.

"What the hell?" He yelled, finally taking a good look at the guy – tall, blue eyed, cocky "Are you trying to steal from me?"

The man smiled.

"Nah. That would be ironic, wouldn't it?"

"Who are you?" Neal barked, staring at the stranger.

"August W. Booth, at your services."

"What do you want with me, man?"

"To give you some advice."

"I don't need this shit!" said Neal, starting to leave. But a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Yes, you need. For Emma's sake."

"What do you know about Emma?"

"Apparently, more than you do."

"Sick bastard! Have you been watching us or what?" Neal yelled, getting rid of August's grasp.

"Now, listen carefully, Mr. Cassidy. I need you to cut it off. You need to leave Emma."

"What? Are you crazy? I am not leaving her, not now, not ever!"

"See, I've known her for longer than you. And I happen to know that she has some important stuff to do. And I think your presence on her life will impede her to do so."

"What are you talking about? She has never mentioned you! How do you know her?"

"Oh, she would not remember, she was just a baby. But I do. She has a mission, Neal. The time for her to act is coming closer and she needs to be focused solemnly on that."

"What is this stuff she needs to do?"

"You don't need to know. You just need to get away from her."

"No, thank you. That was a good talk!" Neal said, turning his back and walking away.

"I know!" August said, making the other man freeze. "I know that you are Baelfire!" he added in a hushed tone, a smile playing on his lips.

Neal turned around, fear but also some anger showing on his face.

"Who are you, really? Did someone order you to come here? Does it have anything to do with my father?"

"I am here for Emma, not you. If you really love her, you need to leave. You, better than anyone else, should understand it"

August began to walk away as Neal stayed on the same spot, looking down.

He finally raised his eyes, looking at August's back and saying in almost a whisper.

"I have a son, you know? A beautiful little boy. What will happen to him? I don't want him to grow up fatherless like I did."

August turned his face and he seemed almost apologetically.

"Believe me, it is going to be better for both your boy and Emma if she does accomplish her mission."

And with that, he went away.

Neal didn't move. He was trying to understand what had just happened. He tried for so long to leave behind his past, but it just had caught up with him anyway. Who was this August guy? And what was all that talk about Emma having a mission?

He walked back to the sidewalk. August was gone, leaving behind just a bitter taste and bad memories. Neal knew, somehow, that the guy was serious. He was from the Enchanted Forest too, there was no other way he could have know about his real name. The question was: what was he going to do with August's plead?

First things first, Neal thought as he heard his stomach growling. _Let me get the food. I will think about all of this over a full stomach._

**_~X~_**

"I love when they mix peanuts with the vegetables. It gives it a different taste."

Neal looked up from his plate. His beautiful girlfriend smiled to him, her eyes shining behind the dark rimmed glasses. He would love to join her and have a discussion about peanuts with vegetables. But he was too worried for that.

"Are you ok?" she asked, catching something out of his quiet demeanor.

"Emma, what do you remember about your childhood?"

"What do you mean?" she asked with a shaky smile. He knew that was a touchy subject for her.

"Do you know exactly where you came from? Did you have any good friend as a kid or teenager?"

"I already told you, Neal." she said, her voice icy "I was found at the side of a road. I have no hints about my parents. And all the time that I had been to orphanages or foster homes, I never had someone to trust on or confide."

She was not looking at him and Neal regretted bringing the subject up. Maybe that August guy was just a crazy stalker that throw his shit on Neal, and he foolishly believed him.

"Why did you ask me that?"

"It was stupid, and I was curious. I am sorry, Emma. It breaks my heart that you never had a friend growing up."

She looked at him, her cold expression melting.

"I have one now." she said, smiling "I have a great friend, that is also my boyfriend, and guess what? He gave me an awesome present."

She inched closer to him, smiling and looking at his lips. He got the cue, and was about to kiss her when a cry startled them.

Neal chuckled softly.

"Sounds like your present is awake." he said, pointing to the hallway where the kid's cries came from.

"I will check on him." Emma said, beginning to stand up.

"It's ok, I got it." he said, holding her on place and standing up instead. "Finish your peanuts."

Emma smiled.

"Hey, hey buddy! What's the matter?"

A crying boy looked up with frightened eyes and as soon as Neal crossed the threshold, his little arms shot up. He had just outgrown his crib, and he looked so small and fragile on his big boy bed.

"Papa!"

Neal smiled. That was a little piece of his past that he actually enjoyed – Emma never understood why he insisted that their son called him 'papa' instead of 'daddy'. The true is, every time the boy called him 'papa', a little piece of him warmed up and memories – good memories – peeked at him around the corner.

"Hey, it is ok, I am here." Neal said, seating at the bed and hugging the boy tightly.

After some seconds the boy let go, and Neal smoothed his dark hair.

"What was it, a nightmare?"

His head bounced up and down as the scared face came back.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"You were hurt, papa. And mommy too. And I was alone, and scared, and I called you but you didn't move."

"Henry, I am alright, your mother is alright and nothing is going to hurt us. Do you hear me?"

The boy nodded, holding his father's hand in a tight grip.

"Promise you will stay here until I go back to sleep?"

"I promise." he said, leaving a kiss on his son's forehead. "I love you, kid. I will see you in the morning."

Henry closed his eyes under Neal's watchful stare, and soon he was breathing deeply. Neal once more smoothed his son's hair, sighing. He remembered something that he had heard so many times before – magic always comes with a price. That world had no magic on it but he somehow felt like that sentence fit on the situation at his hands. If August was right and Emma did have a mission, she needed to accomplish the mission. If Neal somehow was impeding her to do so, there was going to be a price to be paid. And what would this price be? He would prefer to die before something bad happened to Emma or Henry. They were his only family, and he would always protect them from everything and everyone.

He watched his son sleeping peacefully. He had a choice to make, hadn't he? He could just ignore what August said and carry on with his life. Or he could talk with Emma about it and try to figure out more about her past and the said mission. Or he could leave Emma, as August had asked, and let her fulfill her destiny.

The question was, what was his decision going to be?

* * *

_**A/n:** Ok folks, this was going to be an oneshot, but then I had an idea. What if I write three different endings to the story, one for each of the choices Neal can make, and you can choose which one you would like to read? Just like those interactive books for kids. :) What do you guys think? Let me know!_


	2. Choose your ending :)

Hello dearies!

One week until we have a new episode! An amazing two hours episode! Who is excited? I know I am! :D

So, to celebrate and to help us pass the time until then, I will give you the three possible endings to the story. It was a little hard to come up with them - when I suggested it by the end of the first chapter it looked a lot easier than it actually was. The Chapter 5 gave me special trouble, but they are finally all written! I hope you guys enjoy it.

Ok, let's do this!

If you think that Neal should pretend nothing happened and just follow his life, read **Chapter 3.**

If you think Neal should talk to Emma about it, and try to convince her of the truth, read **Chapter 4.**

If you think Neal should leave Emma so she can find her family and fulfill her destiny, read **Chapter 5.**

Good reading to all and let me know your opinion. :)

Oh, and just for fun: Let me know on a review which ending you chose. I am curious to know what is going to be the most chosen one.

Until next time!

Poly

_PS: the story is rated T for Emma's and Neal's mouth. I warned you!_


	3. Emma? Curse? Pfffff!

**Ending 1 -****Emma? Curse? Pffff! No reason to believe that!**

* * *

_Lovely girl won't you stay, won't you stay, stay with me  
All my life I was blind, I was blind, now I see  
Lovely girl won't you stay, won't you stay, stay with me  
All my life I was blind, I was blind, now I see  
**Big Parade - The Lumineers**  
_

Emma finished eating dinner and cleaned up the kitchen but Neal didn't come back from Henry's room. She made her way to their bedroom, expecting to find Neal already in bed, but he wasn't there. She finally found him at Henry's room, staring at the sleepy boy.

"Neal?" she called from the door, in a hushed tone.

He turned around, and she could tell he had been crying.

"Hey, is everything alright? Is Henry ok?" she asked, concerned, as she entered the room.

He looked at her and then at the little boy, and suddenly his decision was made. There was no way in hell he could leave the two most important people in the world for him. And to leave because of all the crap that August told him? It would be stupid.

"Neal?" Emma pressed, getting more worried by the second.

"It is ok, the kid just had a nightmare." he said. By the way she was staring at him, he could tell she was trying to figure out if he was lying. But he did tell her the true.

"Is he ok now?"

"Yeah, he is."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you ok?"

By that point he knew Emma pretty well to understand that pretending he was ok was just going to lead to further questioning.

"I will be when you lead me to the bedroom and show me how much you love me." he said, standing up and capturing her lips in his.

There was no more questioning of her part that night.

**~X~**

"I heard today is your birthday!"

Emma saw the brownish-greenish eyes – something he inherited from his father and she loved – shine in delight. Henry took the dog-shaped balloon with eager hands and smiled to the woman.

"What do you say, baby?" she asked, messing up his hair.

"Thank you!"

"You are very welcome, young man."

Emma also smiled to the woman, thanking her with a nod. They were leaving the restaurant were they came to celebrate Henry's fifth birthday. They were doing a good job on providing a fun day to their son, she thought as she admired his big smile.

"Wait, I don't get a balloon?" Neal asked, catching up with them by the door.

"It is not your birthday, Papa!"

"But I want a balloon!" Neal pouted like a young child.

Henry looked at his dad, then at his balloon, thinking hard. When he raised his eyes, he had a solution.

"I can ask the lady for one more. I can tell her it is not your birthday, but you really really want one."

"Henry, that is really nice of you." Emma said "But your father is just messing around. He is a big boy, he can survive without a balloon."

Henry looked at his father, as trying to confirm it. Neal smiled.

"Yeah, it is ok. As long as I can have some ice cream, that is."

"Can we have ice cream?" Henry said, the big smile coming back to his face.

"If that's what you want! You are the birthday boy." Emma said, taking him by his shoulders and walking to the yellow bug parked close to the restaurant's entrance.

Neal stayed on the same spot, watching his little family with a smile.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Whoa!" Neal turned around to see someone he didn't want to see so soon. Well, maybe never. "Oh, great. Fucking August is back."

"Do you speak like that in front of the kid? You have a dirty mouth, man."

"What are you doing here?" Neal asked, taking a look at Emma that had reached the car and was looking for him.

"You said you would leave."

"I never promised you that."

"You need to leave."

"Not happening."

"You are impeding her of fulfilling her destiny."

"If it is really her destiny it is going to happen, with or without me."

"It may or it may not, Neal. But you can't be selfish. It is the only hope her family has."

"Neal..." They both turned around to see Emma coming "What is going on?"

"Emma..." he said, looking pointedly at August. "This is..."

"August Booth, nice to meet you." he said, then opened his backpack. "You forgot this."

Emma and Neal took a look at the book he got out.

"It is for the boy" he said "Every month the restaurant gives away one book to a kid. This month he was the lucky one."

Emma took the heavy book on her hands.

"Wow, that is really nice. Is this a fairytale book? Henry is going to love it."

She was flipping the pages of the book, so she couldn't see the exchange of glances between August and Neal.

"Yes. It is a reminder." August said, looking at Neal. "That happy endings do exist, but they require time, work and sacrifice."

Emma looked up, and both men tried to act neutral.

"That _is _a great lesson." she said with a smile. "Thank you, Mr. August. Please, thank the staff for us."

"I will." he answered, also smiling.

Neal put a possessive hand around Emma's hip as they walked to the car. He looked back once and August was still staring at them.

"Henry, look what they gave you! It is a fairytale book!"

Neal didn't see the reaction on his son's face. He didn't because he was looking out the window, to the place were August was just some seconds before. Was he ever going to stop?

**~X~**

That night, Henry wanted his parents to read the book to him before he went to bed. That happened again on the next night, and the night after that. It soon became a family tradition.

Some weeks later Emma was reading the end of Snow White and Prince Charming's story. She thought it was funny that Neal looked as involved in the story as Henry, but that night he was over the top.

"No, let's keep reading." he pleaded as Emma closed the book.

"Neal, Henry is asleep, and I am tired."

"I want to know what the curse is." he said, taking the book from her hands.

Emma would laugh, but she was too tired. She just got a new job on the library – they were trying to stay as low key as possible – and she had been carrying and organizing books the whole day. All she wanted was a shower and bed.

"Ok, but I am going to bed." she said, leaving a kiss on top of Henry's head.

Neal didn't say anything as she left the room. When she turned around, he was eagerly reading the book and she smiled.

"Papa?" Neal looked around suddenly, so drawn he was by the book he forgot about the real world. Or better, that world. He didn't realize almost one hour had passed. "Why are you still in my bed?"

"Just wanted to read a little bit more. Go back to sleep, son."

"In which part are you? What happened to Snow and Charming?"

"Not going to tell, you will discover when you read it."

"Do they stay together?"

"Well, they always find each other, remember?"

"Oh. So the evil queen's curse does work and they don't stay together."

Neal looked at the boy. He was such a smart kid. Maybe if he told him about the Enchanted Forest... He rubbed his eyes. No, at least not that night. He was tired and just learned exactly what Emma was going to deal with – because now he knew what August said was true. Maybe the time would come when he needed to talk to her about it and he would need help convincing her all of that was real, and little Henry was the perfect guy to help him with that. But not that night. Neal needed to sleep on that information first.

"The good always wins, remember?" Neal said, kissing his boy's hair. "Now go back to sleep, little prince. Have good dreams."

Henry smiled by being called like that and soon he was asleep again.

**~X~**

"Guard your side, Henry! Come on!" the little boy laughed as his dad tried to hit him with the wooden sword. He was about to attack him back when the living room door opened.

"Mom!" he said, running to hug her.

"Hey, boys." she answered, smiling. But her smile disappeared as she saw the wooden swords.

As she told Henry to ride his bike downstairs on the patio and stared at Neal, he knew what was coming.

"Wooden swords."

"Boys like to play with wooden swords." he said with a smile.

"Neal, you need to stop."

"Stop what?"

"All this fairytale thing, it is not healthy."

Neal sighed. He remembered the first time he tried to convince Emma that the book Henry got on his fifth birthday had true stories in it. Since them, he didn't do much improvement on convincing her of that.

"_What would you say if I told you we are in this book?" he asked her, holding Henry's heavy book on his hands._

"_I would say you are spending too much time with a seven-years-old." she answered._

_He smiled too._

"_Emma, do you remember I told you I had an ugly fight with my dad and haven't seen him since then?"_

"_Yes."_

_Neal opened the book on the page where his story was told. They had read it again with Henry not so long ago and it was not an easy reading for him._

"_That's him." he pointed to the picture of him and his dad over the open portal._

_Emma laughed. Then she looked at him and stopped._

"_Oh my God. You are serious."_

"_Yes, I am." he said, thinking she was finally understanding._

"_You are really spending too much time with Henry. Neal, you need to act like his dad, not his playmate! This is not funny!"_

"_It is not that crazy." he insisted. "It was not a coincidence that this book ended up with us. You always asked yourself what happened to your parents, right? Why they left you. Well, we read the explanation, Emma. They put you on the wardrobe to save you."_

"_Just because the character has the same name I have..."_

"_It is the same name because that is you!"_

"_No!" she yelled, standing. Tears began to roll down her face and Neal froze. "I am not! Those are not my parents and I am not a hero or anything! My parents didn't want me so they abandoned me! And don't ever talk about it like that again!" she said, leaving the room._

Through the years, he had tried to convince her but it was to no use. She didn't even want to hear abut it and once she even suggested that he went to a psychologist. It didn't help that they passed through some tough times. They were constantly moving, neither Emma or Neal kept their jobs for a long time. When they thought they were going to finally settle down, something would happen and mess up their lives again. Henry had lived in more cities than he could remember and even if they stayed in a place for a longer time, he never made friends. The boy got good grades at school, but he was always alone. Emma reasoned with Neal that Henry didn't need the fantasy of fairytales, he needed to stop living in an imaginary world.

But as her 28th birthday was getting closer, he knew they needed to do something so she could break the curse. Even if he didn't want anything to do with that world again, they needed Emma, and he was not going to deny them that.

He needed to try a different approach.

"Em, tell me: what did Henry's teacher said?"

She looked suspicious with the change of topics, but she answered anyway, a glow of pride lightning her features.

"She said that he is really mature for his age, he is smart and he treats others with respect and equality."

"Where do you think he learned this things? We are not exactly the noble kind. Not until he was born, at least."

Emma knew he was right. Henry, the son of two thieves, had a sense of honor and justice that surprised her. Neal guessed he inherited that from his grandfather Charming, since he was sure it didn't come from his side of the family.

"This stories are good for him, Emma. They build character. If he wants to play sword fighting bow and arrow and pretend he is horse back riding, why not? He wants to be like Prince Charming. I would say that is a kick ass role model."

"He is a good character." Emma gave in. But then she turned serious again. "But no more talking about him being my father."

"I promise." Neal said. But he thought, _when you are ready._

She smiled to him, approaching slowly.

"You are a good father, Nealfire."

He laughed. She was listening, then. That was good, that knowledge would help her in the future.

"Thank you, my princess." he answered, emphasizing the last words.

**~X~**

It was time to bring his ally to the plan.

Neal stopped his car on the kiss and ride line, waiting for his son to see him. Today he would ask Henry's help – they had little time left and they needed to figure out a way to turn Emma into a believer so she could break the curse.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?"

He jumped on his seat. Outside his window, in a big motorcycle, was no one less than August W. Booth.

"Damn, I hate when you do that! Why do you need to always make a big entrance?" Neal yelled.

"Good to see you too, man. It has been some years, huh?"

"I own you a punch." Neal growled, not sharing August's light mood.

"Why?"

"Because you deserve it, fucking Pinocchio!"

For the first time, Neal saw the other man not so sure of himself, even a little guilty.

"Got it." he said, and moved on. "I've been doing some research. I am close to finding the place."

"What place?"

"Of the curse, off course." August said, smiling. "We are going to make this work out, Neal. I will send you a postcard."

August twisted the motorcycle's handlebar, preparing to leave.

"Wait! Come back here!"

But it was too late, the man was gone.

"I hate that guy!"

Neal punched the turning wheel, but the cars moved and soon he could see Henry. It was better to keep his emotions on check.

"Where are we going?" Henry asked as his dad took an unusual way.

"Dairy Queen. We have an important meeting."

"We do?" Henry asked, excited.

"Yes, Prince Henry." Neal smiled, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

Some ice creams later, nine years-old Henry sat, staring at his father. He was processing everything, and Neal knew the question avalanche was coming.

But he said something that surprised him instead.

"I knew it!"

"Wait, what?"

"I knew it! So everything is true! So you are Baelfire, Rumpelstiltskin's son! And Mom is Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, she is the savior!" Henry was so excited that he was climbing the table.

"Whoa, whoa!" Exclaimed Neal "How did you figure that out?"

"I've read that book like, a thousand times! And every time I asked you something about the story you knew it right away, even if we hadn't read it yet. And you were training me just like a real prince and..."

Neal was looking at his son, knowing him pretty well to understand there was something that the boy was hiding. He gave him 'the look'.

"Ok, I may have eavesdrop some of your conversations with Mom." they boy confessed.

"Henry!"

"I wanted to know, ok?" he said, puppy eyes on.

"Do you have any questions?" Neal said, already knowing the answer.

"Yes! Did you stay all the time in Neverland before coming here? Did you live near the place where Snow and Charming got their castle? Oh, and what was like growing up in a forest?"

Neal laughed. Even if life was so hard sometimes, it was worth it. He loved that little boy. And he loved the fact that they did have a mutual trust.

**~X~**

It was called the Operation Eagle. They were not suppose to tell the duckling about it – and that was Emma. After Neal came back from his shift on a computer store and picked Henry up at school, before Emma came back home, they would do all the important stuff of their plan – talk about strategies and hypotheses, train sword fighting, hand to hand fighting and other little things that could help Henry around in their mission.

"It is almost Mom's birthday!" Henry complained, after they spend half an hour studying an US map. "We have no idea where to go, or even if the fairy tale characters are in _this _world!"

"It is ok, pal. We will find a way."

"How?" Henry half yelled. He was frustrated and Neal felt bad about that. He was so worried with failing Emma and her family, of being the cause of her not to breaking the curse, that he sometimes forgot his ally was just a young boy.

"Son, come here." Henry obeyed, stopping on front of him. "Come closer. Sit here." he taped his lap.

"I am not a baby." Henry said, moody.

"Please, for your old man?"

Henry looked at his father – the man who was still his hero. He remembered the story of him when he was a kid and how his own father let him go, choosing power over his son. Henry was sure that Neal would never do that to him.

He finally sat.

"What is one of the things that all this people you got to know by the book have in common? Snow White, Charming, Red Hood, Granny, the dwarfs, Aurora, Mulan, Phillip... what is it that keep moving them on?"

"Courage?" Henry tried.

"That is a good one. But it is not just courage that make you act to save a loved one, or fight again and again even if you got hurt so many times before. It is hope, Henry."

He looked at his father solemnly.

"We can't loose hope. For your mom, and for all the ones that are under the spell of the evil queen, we can't give up. We are going to find a way, even if it doesn't look like it right now. We just need to keep trying. Ok?"

"Ok." the boy answered with a smile.

"That's what I want to hear! Now go grab your jacket, we can go for a bike ride and meet Mom on her way home."

Henry ran to the door, but soon stopped on his tracks.

"Papa?" his voice was high pitched and Neal was by his side right away.

He looked down and the boy had a little piece of paper on his hands, an envelope still on the floor. It probably had been slipped trough under the door. It was a postcard from the Acadia National Park. Henry flipped the post card on his hand, showing the back to Neal.

"Bring a jacket. A.W.B." He read. "What are these numbers?"

"They are coordinates." Neal said, amazed. Damn Pinocchio finally did something right.

Henry looked up.

"Is this..."

Neal smiled.

"Son, I know where we are taking your Mom for her 28th birthday." he said, and both of them stared to the picture of the National Park in Maine.


	4. Lets get an alien army an kick the queen

**Ending 2 -Let's get an alien army and kick my dad's... ah... the evil queen's ass!**

* * *

_I'm looking for a place to start,  
But everything feels so different now.  
Just grab a hold of my hand,  
I will lead you through this wonderland.  
Water up to my knees,  
But sharks are swimming in the sea.  
Just follow my yellow light  
And ignore all those big warning signs._  
_**Yellow Lights – Of Monsters and Men**_

As Neal stood up and left the room, he had no clear plan on his mind. He just knew that he needed to see Emma, he needed... to share with her.

"Whoa, what is this?" Emma asked, surprised, as two hands hugged her from the back while she washed the dishes.

"I love you." he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too." she answered, turning around and looking in his eyes. But she didn't expect to see his heavy expression. "What is the problem?"

He inhaled deeply.

"What would you do..." he whispered, still holding her hips, keeping her close. "If someone came to you and told you that you needed to leave Henry and me, because that would be the best for us?"

She felt that was something serious, not one of his jokes or games, so she decided to honestly answer him.

"Do I know this person? The one that came talk to me?"

"No."

"What is the argument of this person? Why would I need to leave?"

"Because you are not letting me fulfill my destiny."

She frowned.

"That sounded _so_ not convincing."

He still stared at her.

"No! I would not just leave you an Henry! Not if someone said I needed, not if someone offered me a thousand dollars."

"What about ten thousand?" he joked, but she was done answering. She needed an explanation.

"What is going on?"

"That happened to me today." he offered.

"A person came up to you and told you to leave us?" she asked, horrified.

He nodded.

"And why would you take him seriously?"

"He knew our names."

"That is not something hard to find out."

"He knew my real name."

That stopped her.

"What do you mean your real name? Your name is Neal, Neal Cassidy." she said, a bit of panic in her voice.

"Emma..."

She pushed him away.

"No... don't tell me... you have not been lying to me!"

"No, I haven't. Neal is my name. It is the name I've chosen."

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to leave my past behind and start fresh. So I abandoned my old name, believing that I would leave all the bad memories behind with it."

"What was your real name?" she asked, slowly. How did someone knew about this secret that he hadn't share even with her?

"Baelfire."

"I can see why you wanted to leave the name behind." she said, trying to lighten the mood, her mind not wrapping itself around that idea yet.

Neal shrugged. He never had a problem with the name by itself, he actually liked it when he was a kid. The problem was the life it was connected to.

"Who knew about your name? How old were you when you stopped using it?"

He raised his eyes. The explanations were starting to get complicated.

"No one here, for sure. I was fourteen."

He thought there were going to be more questions, but there was none. She kept looking at him, thinking. She finally said:

"It doesn't matter what he claims to know. He can't just come to you and convince you to leave your family behind."

Neal had no answer to that. At least no answer that he wanted to share. He saw it happening many times before, people coming to you and asking you to leave all your loved ones. Maybe for a fight, maybe for power or knowledge. People would do crazy things for power and fame.

"You are not allowed to leave, do you hear me?" she said, pointing a finger.

"I am not going anywhere." he promised, and he meant it.

She hugged him and he tightened the grip. He was not leaving. But he was still worried.

**~X~**

"Can I get a brownie?"

"For sure, birthday boy!"

"Were is the waitress?" Emma said "I haven't seen her around."

"I think she is by the entrance." Neal answered. "I will tell her to come to our table, I need to use the restroom anyway."

He asked their waitress to bring a brownie with ice cream and a candle to their table and she smiled, asking whose birthday it was. When he said it was his son's birthday she smiled and mentioned there was a woman making balloon sculptures, and she would also send her over.

Neal glanced at Emma and Henry at the table before entering the restroom's hallway.

"You are still here."

Neal jumped. Right in front of him was Mr. August, locking the restroom door behind them as he stared at the other man.

"I don't have time for your crap today."

"I asked you to leave."

"That's right, you asked. But I didn't want to."

"You need to."

"No, I don't. This is my life. And guess what? I make the decisions."

"You can't do this to Emma or all the people from the Enchanted Forest. If she doesn't break the curse, they will be forever under the spell."

"Oh, so there is a spell." Neal said, happy with the little slip the other guy made. But then his expression changed. "Wait. Who cast the spell?"

"The Evil Queen."

"Oh, good. It was not my dad this time. Cause you know, having my girlfriend fight my dad..."

"It wouldn't be easy?" August asked, kind of sympathetic.

"What? No, it would be amazing! I would probably help her kick his ass!"

August laughed and Neal stared at him, surprised.

"That is probably the first time I see you even smiling. I didn't think you had it on you."

"It has been a long time." August joked. "Look, man..."

He stopped. He was about to change his plans and the last time he did so, things didn't turn out well. He hoped this time they did.

"Maybe this will work out. Maybe we can work around the new elements."

"Yes, that's it! Of course we can! So come on, tell me more about the curse."

August was about to do so, but someone knocked on the restroom's door.

"Let's schedule a meeting, shall we?" August said, smiling.

**~X~**

Emma thought that was all too weird.

Neal had never been a guy to have friends. That was why they were so drawn to each other: before they met, they had always been two alone kids in the world.

And that's why it was so weird Neal saying he was going out to meet a _friend. _He was even going to a bar, for God's sake. She would have been fine with him making a new friend, but he wouldn't talk about the guy either. Whenever she asked something, he just pointed the conversation in another direction.

So she did what any girlfriend would do. She followed him.

"I don't know man, it is not like I want to mess up with the order of the things." she heard Neal say to the tall man seating at a stool by his side. "But there is no way in hell that I am leaving Emma and Henry."

Emma tried not to gasp. Why was he talking about that again? She hadn't heard him mention it anymore, not since a couple of years before. She pulled her hood, hiding her face, and tried to hear what the other man was saying, but he was too far and the bar, too loud.

"I know, August." Neal answered to whatever the other man said "But I also know there is always a price to be paid. And it is usually paid by innocent people. If I left, that would be it. We would be paying it. Since I am not... what is going to be the price?"

Emma sat at a table were she could keep listening to the conversation. The tall man shifted on his stool and Neal kept talking.

"My worst fear is that, by being selfish and staying with Emma, I am impeding her to meet her parents."

At this point she needed to try really hard to suppress a surprised sight. But this time August answered a little louder, and she figured out what he said.

"We need to make her believe. That is the first step to break the curse."

Ok, maybe she heard it wrong.

"Good luck with that." Neal said, laughing. The other guy said something she couldn't figure out, and Neal added. "Hey, it is your job, guardian angel. I can help you around, but I am not doing all the dirty work by myself. You didn't stick out when she was a baby, so you are doing so now."

Right after he said that, there was a commotion at the bar – someone scored a touchdown or something. She braced the opportunity to leave – she needed to think over everything she heard. She didn't think she could take any more new information, anyway.

She took her time going back home. Henry was with a neighbor that used to babysit for them, so she still had half an hour or so. As she walked to the apartment complex were they lived, she thought about the weird conversation she just heard, trying to somehow make sense of it. Two adult men talking about curses and fate and some crap about _her _parents. What annoyed her the most was that they were talking about her without her presence. She now knew that was the guy Neal talked about some years ago. But didn't he say the guy was a stranger? How did they became friends?

When she reached her neighbor's apartment door, her head was heavy. But she had made a decision: she would wait. She would not say anything to Neal and she would watch how things played out for the next days, and how his behavior would be.

When he got home that night, she tried to act normal. She asked how was his night and he answered with a smile.

"You should meet August. Maybe I can bring him over for dinner one of this days."

That would be interesting, Emma thought, but didn't voice it.

"Hey, I brought something." he said, taking off his jacket and sitting on the couch. A thick book was placed on the coffee table.

"What is it?"

"A book with stories of the place were I was born."

She flipped the pages, confused. He watched her every move, already prepared for her dejected reaction.

"These are fairy tales!"

"That's how you call it here. But yeah, they are fairy tales."

"What kind of joke is this, Neal?"

He gently took her face with his hands.

"I am telling you I came from a magic land. Am I lying, Emma?"

She looked deeply in his eyes, wanting so much to find the lie. But she didn't, so she gasped.

"You... you lost your mind. You really believe in what you are saying."

"Why would I lie to you?"

"If... if this bullshit is all true, why would you just want to tell me now? We have been together for eight years and you never mentioned anything!"

"You trust me enough to know I wouldn't lie to you, right? Up to now I didn't have the courage to tell you. But I want you to know about the place were w... were _I_ came from." He almost said were we came from, but he stopped himself just in time. She wasn't ready for that yet. "All I ask is that you listen. I will tell you my story and please, baby, just listen. Don't judge or make suppositions, not until I am finished."

So he told her. With the help of some of the pictures in the book, he told her about growing up in the Enchanted Forest, his mom running away with a pirate, his dad's cowardice that made him become the Dark One. He mentioned things like portal traveling and the price of magic. She obediently listened to him, but she wasn't buying it.

"I know it sounds like something crazy, but it is just because on this world no one believes in things like magic, fate or true love anymore. But it is there, Emma."

She inhaled deeply. It was probably three in the morning, and she was so tired that she couldn't process anything else.

"Maybe we should go to bed, Neal. We talk about this tomorrow."

Her tone was icy, so he knew he wasn't being successful. But before she could stand up, he stopped her.

"Just let me give you something."

He walked to the desk were they stored all the important documents and opened a drawer. There was this little, old box that he used to carry with him, but never showed her the contents. He opened it almost reverently and took something out, putting it on her hands. It was a picture inside a plastic bag.

"When I was taken to Neverland, the only thing I had with me was this. I always carried this picture with me, even when I went to bed, because it reminded me of people that really made me feel like I had a family again. It is one of the things I most cherish."

He left her to contemplate the picture, and went to their room.

Emma analyzed it, surprised. She didn't expect physical proof. But there it was, an undoubtedly old picture, maybe a hundred years old. There was a family – mother, father, one girl and three boys. Even if the picture was black and white and a bit yellowed by time, she could recognize the taller boy. He had the pensive look that Neal had sometimes, but in a more rounded, innocent face. A face that resembled Henry's.

She flipped the picture and there was something scribbled there – The Darlings, April, 23th 1910. George, Mary, Wendy, Baelfire, John, Michael.

**~X~**

"Can I have ice cream? I want to have ice cream!"

"Henry, why don't you go play outside? I need to finish lunch, after lunch you can have ice cream."

"I don't wanna go outside." the boy complained, getting the remote and sitting on the floor to watch TV instead.

Emma looked at the boy, his back to her, his dark hair in his shoulders – it was time for a haircut.

"What's the matter?" Neal asked, as he left the bathroom, fresh from a shower. Emma was standing in the middle of the kitchen, a concerned expression as she watched Henry.

"I wish he could make friends." she whispered, watching their son. When he was born, she thought he was going to have a life so different from hers and Neal's. He had two parents that loved him and took care of him. The truth was, the three of them were happy. But that was all they had: each other. Henry never made friends easily. Even on the building complex where they lived, full of kids around his age, he didn't have friends. It was like he was different from all the other kids and was never comfortable around them.

"He is fine, Em. He will enter a new school in some weeks, then he will have plenty of friends."

"It is like he doesn't fit anywhere." she said, still whispering so her son wouldn't hear them. "Just like us."

"Hey." Neal said, pulling her shoulder so she could look at him. "We have each other, we are going to be fine."

"Mommy!" Henry called, startling both of them "Where are my Disney DVDs?"

"First drawer, kiddo." She answered. She knew Neal was staring at her. Henry always loved the Disney stories and since he was little Neal would read him fairytales. He thought that, someday, he would tell his son that those were more than bedtime stories.

Emma never thought it was weird before, but now she realized that maybe he had his own agenda.

"You never said anything about the book or the picture." Neal said, still staring. It had been almost a week since he came back home with the book.

"If you are thinking about reading that book to Henry, I would say no. I mean, princesses having kids and a imp instead of a fairy godmother helping Cinderella? Not appropriated."

"Imp? Oh, fuck." Neal said, not believing his dad had messed up even with Cinderella.

"And I don't know how you made that book up Neal, but it is not fair to include my name on it. And my baby blanket? That was low."

"What? What are you talking about?" He hadn't have the time to read it, the bits that he didn't know before, like Emma's curse, August told him.

Emma sighed, glancing at Henry, that was distracted again with the TV, then went to the bedroom. Neal followed her and Emma handed him the book that was hidden in her closet. She opened it on the right page, showing him the picture of her baby version on the wardrobe.

"I haven't seen this picture before." Neal said, smiling. There it was, the same blanket Emma had since she was a baby.

"You are playing me!"

"No, I am not! August gave me this book, Emma, and even if I know part of the story, a lot of it happened after my time in the Enchanted Forest, your story included."

"My... you are not saying..."

"We are both from there, Emma. That's why we both grew up alone, that's why we don't fit anywhere."

"No! Neal, stop it!"

"But it is the true!"

"Are you guys fighting?"

Both of them turned around to see Henry looking at them from the door, his barefoot feet shifting, just like Neal did when he was uncomfortable.

"No." Emma said, lowering her tone. "No, sweetie. We are just discussing something."

"You don't need to yell, you know?" the boy said, like he was lecturing his parents. Then he saw the big book opened on the bed.

"Hey, what is this?" he asked, getting closer to check the book out. He closed it to see the cover. Slowly he put the letters together. "Once upon a time? Is this a fairytale book?"

The stare that Emma threw at Neal was homicidal. Well, he was a brave man.

"Yes, it is. But it is also more than that. Every story in this book actually happened, Henry."

"Really?" the boy asked, his features lightning.

"Yes. I thought we could read it together, the three of us, what do you think?" Neal said, ignoring the silent words that Emma's lips were forming - 'not appropriate'.

"Yeah!" the boy cheered, jumping in the air. "Can we begin now?"

"Not right now son, your mom and I need to finish lunch and you have dentist today. Before bed we will read it, ok?"

"Ok." Henry answered.

"Now go watch your movie. Lunch will be ready soon."

Neal kept looking at Henry as he left, but he knew Emma was still glaring on his direction. He could feel the side of his head burning.

"Don't you dare to include Henry on this, Neal." she hissed. "He is just a kid, he will believe in anything you say."

"Yeah." Neal said with a sad smile. "It is too bad that we loose this innocence as we grow up."

Emma was ready to answer back, but his voice sounded so broken and his eyes were so empty of life, that she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She let it pass that time.

They began reading the book with Henry every night before bed. Emma still thought Neal was either out of his mind or planning the biggest prank of all his life as he insisted that all those stories were true.

"Papa, how do you know this stories really happened?" Henry asked certain night, when they were getting ready to their night ritual.

"Because I was born there."

"Are you in the book?" Henry asked, excited. "Who are you?"

Neal laughed, helping the little boy in his pajamas.

"Yes, I am. And that, Henry, you will need to guess."

Emma entered the room, turning on the nightlight and tucking Henry in. The boy looked up at her.

"Is mommy in the book too?"

"Yes, she is." Neal answered, much to Emma's horror.

"She is easy to guess! Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter!"

Neal nodded, getting the book and lying by Henry's side. Emma made a mental note to scowl Neal later. But by the time Henry fell asleep, she was so tired that she had no energy left for a fight.

On the next weekend, August was invited over for dinner. Emma was curious about how that meeting would turn out and Henry was extremely excited – it was not something common on their house to have a guest.

After burning the first casserole, Emma decided to go with frozen lasagna and neither of the boys complained. August arrived at eight sharp, greeted her politely and played around with Henry. He looked comfortable around them, and Emma asked herself if anything about the crazy supposition of fairytales being real was going to be mentioned. Then, when they had finished dinner and Henry left the table to eat his dessert as he watched The beauty and the Best – for, like, the hundredth time – August asked Neal:

"So, is she a believer yet?"

Neal just laughed, then looked at Emma.

"My dear girlfriend is more skeptical than you imagine, August. She changed a lot since you last saw her."

Emma rolled her eyes.

"Don't tell me! August here is Pinocchio and he decided taking care of a newborn was too much, so he just left me to come back when I was old enough to take care of myself."

"At least you are smart." August said, a sad smile playing on his lips.

"Ok, let's say all this craziness is true. For one moment, let's ignore the fact that it is impossible and improbable, and let's play make-believe. Why would you leave me, August? If it is so important to break this curse, why did you leave a helpless baby to find her way by herself?"

None of them expected the reaction on August's part, as he half whined, half shouted:

"I was seven! No kid should carry such a big responsibility at seven!"

Neal could tell how guilty August was that he left Emma. Even if the guy was a pain in the ass sometimes, he was growing to like him. And he agreed with what August just said, as he thought about his son, almost the same age.

As Neal remembered Henry, he turned around and the boy was staring at them with a scared expression.

"That was really good, August, I love this movie!" Neal said, tapping August's back and nodding on Henry's direction. The little boy relaxed instantly and soon was back to paying attention to the TV.

"Look, Emma." August said, in a lower tone. "I am really sorry about how things turned out. Being young or not, I should have stood by you, but I left instead. But you need to trust me now. We need to find a way to help our families."

"No!" Emma spitted suddenly, and her eyes began to tear up "I already have a family and I want you to stay away of them! I don't want to hear your bullshit! I don't know how you convinced Neal of this craziness, but you are not convincing me, and if you keep insisting, I will get you to an asylum!"

"Emma..." Neal tried to calm her down, but she was scared and angry.

"I refuse to listen to you two! Get out of here, August! Get out right now!"

At some point she began to yell and Neal was so worried with her that he forgot to check on Henry. August stood up, and he was still trying to reason, but Emma kept yelling.

"It is better if I go." August finally said, looking at Neal. The other man nodded, holding Emma's wrist. August thanked the dinner and turned around, and Neal hugged Emma, trying to calm her down. She didn't refuse the touch, but she was rigid on his arms. And she got even more tense when she heard what August said right after.

"Where is the boy?"

Neal and Emma looked up and Henry wasn't on the room anymore, his unfinished dessert sitting on the floor by itself.

"Henry?" Neal called in a high pitch tone, running to the boy's room, and then the room he shared with Emma. It was a really small apartment, with not many places to hide. Emma ran outside, also calling the little boy's name.

"Oh my God." she whispered when Neal reached her. The grey jacket he had been wearing earlier was dropped on the hallway. "He ran. He heard us fighting, and ran."

"Does he do this often?" August asked, watching them from a distance. Neal's hand was resting on Emma's shoulder, the panic taking over, both of them staring at the piece of clothe just like Henry was going to magically appear in front of them if they waited

"He doesn't like when people fight." Neal answered. "He usually ask us to stop, sometimes he hide."

"He ran outside, Neal!" Emma said, finally looking up. "We need to find him! What if he crosses the street running, or someone tries to... Oh, my God!"

Neal breathed in. Emma was usually the reason and he, the emotion. At that moment he felt they had switched places. He needed to control himself for her sake, it would be no use both of them being a wrack.

"Calm down, Em. He wasn't gone for that long. Why don't you look for him around the building complex? I'll get the car and check if he left and is still running."

Emma agreed, and they both went into action. August decided to go with Neal. He was also worried with the boy, and would like to help, but he was afraid that being alone with Emma would mean his death.

Neal was worried sick, and August really wished they could find Henry quickly. But they drove around the block, and then some blocks farther, asking people on the streets but just getting 'no's as answers. August mentioned calling the police, but Neal declared that was not an option.

Emma had looked everywhere. She had talked to neighbors, and even some kids, but it was almost ten at night and most of the people were inside their apartments already. She was walking down the sidewalk, thinking about what to do the next, when she saw the playground from a distance and was struck by a sudden inspiration. She ran to the little castle that had sliders, monkey bars and swings.

"Henry!" she shouted to the empty playground. No response.

She climbed the stairs to the inside of the little castle and a wave of disappointment washed through her. It was like something was pulled out of her chest, brusquely and with no mercy, that was the feeling she got since she learned Henry had left.

She sat on the little castle, and cried. When she pictured how their life would be, she thought that Henry would have a normal childhood. But no normal kid had a packed suitcase ready in case they needed to run away quickly. That was not a normal childhood.

"Mommy?"

Emma raised her head, thinking she had at last lost her mind. But there he was, her boy, all limbs in place, looking at her with a concerned expression.

"Oh my God, Henry!" she said, hugging him tightly. She cried even more as she held him, trying to prove to herself that he was there and not going anywhere.

"I am sorry, Mom." Henry whispered guiltily.

"Never do that to me again, do you hear it?" she said, holding his shoulders and looking at his face.

He nodded and she relaxed the grasp on his shoulders.

"Why did you run, anyway?"

Henry sighed, like he was a frustrated man, not a stubborn little boy.

"I am tired of not knowing what to believe."

"What do you mean?" she asked quickly. Henry was the one that always brought hope to them, always optimistic, the one that did believe in happy endings. Hearing him say that just sounded wrong.

"I mean, you and Papa had been arguing all the time lately. And it is always because he believes in one thing and you, on other. Now this guy came by and there was more arguing and fights. I don't want to take sides. I don't want you and Papa splitting up."

"Oh, baby, this is not happening. Your Dad and I are not going to split up."

"See? I can't even believe you!" he said, tears coming to his eyes. "You never told me why we need to run away from the police! You say one thing, and dad says another! Someone is lying to me and I don't know who I should believe!"

Emma's breathing suspended. All that mess was taking a toll on Henry and they didn't even realized it.

"Henry, I am so sorry. This is going to end, ok? I will not allow August to come back to our house, and I will talk with your Dad about things... we will tell you anything you want to know. Life will go back to normal."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe, Mom? Maybe you should listen to Dad and August. I feel like... they are right."

He said that with such kindness and conviction that Emma thought she didn't deserve the kid she got. She smiled.

"Maybe you guys are right. Now why don't we come back? I bet your Dad is really worried."

The boy agreed, letting his Mom take his hand and guide him back to the apartment. He really wished things would get better. He really wished his guts were not telling him the wrong thing. He really wished his mom could also believe.

**~X~**

Since Henry ran away that Neal had been having nightmares. Emma would be awaken by his shifting and muffled screams, and spend the next twenty minutes trying to wake him up, then calming him down.

Things had quieted down. She allowed August to come back and was even treating him with civility, something she was doing for Henry. But August and Neal didn't mention the fairytale theory for some time, even if Henry did so frequently. The boy claimed that they needed a plan. He had been calling it Operation Swan.

Some months later Emma woke up with a startle in the middle of the night. She looked for Neal's warmth by her side, but the bed was empty. She looked around curiously, and there was light coming from the hallway. As she stood up, she heard a sob.

Neal was not one to cry easily. His eyes would water up now and then when Henry or Emma said something sweet, but a real sob was another story. He cried when Henry was born, and he cried the time they had such a huge fight that Emma thought they were going to break up. But there he was, sitting on the living room by himself at one in the morning, crying.

"Neal?" Emma called carefully.

He turned around surprised, quickly drying the tears with his wrists.

"Hey, baby. I am sorry I woke you up."

"No, you didn't." she said softly. "But I guess I felt something was wrong."

He tried to smile.

"What are you talking about?"

"What is wrong, Neal?"

"Nothing is wrong."

For once, she switched from the empathetic expression to the don't-fuck-around expression.

"It is not like you to leave the bed at one in the morning to cry. Spill it out, what is going on?"

"I am so sorry." he said in a low tone, and his eyes watered again. "Look, you don't want to hear it. Just go back to bed."

She put an arm around his hips, resting her head on his shoulder.

"There is no way I am going to leave you here like this. What is going on?"

He inhaled deeply and kept quiet for some seconds. Emma began to make little circles on his back to soothe him, and suddenly he began to talk.

"I am so sorry Emma, all of this is my fault. The reason why you grew up alone, why our life is so fucked up. It is my fault, he did all of this to find me."

"Who?"

"My father."

"Neal..."

"No, Emma! You don't understand!" He said, looking at her in the eyes and she was surprised to see such fear... such anger. "He used to be a good father, he really did. Before the war and the Dark One and all that shit. But power corrupted him, magic ruined who used to be my papa, and consequentially, my whole family. Now he is trying to find me again, and your family and all these people were drawn into this, and I can't do anything but try to help you break the curse, and pray that, whatever we do, it works."

He was saying everything in a rush, his voice raising as he went on, and Emma never saw so much anguish on his face before. For one moment she thought about telling him to stop talking about crazy things like they were true, but she looked in his eyes and she just knew she couldn't.

"Neal, whatever your dad does, it is not your fault." she said, determined. "You didn't ruin my life, you helped me build it. And whatever happens in the future... well, be certain that you are and always will be my family."

That made him cry once again and, as Emma hugged him, he repeated time over time 'I am sorry', the memories of all the things his dad had done that he still remembered or that he read on the book lingering in his memory.

For one night, Emma didn't think Neal was crazy or making up stuff. For one night, she let herself be a believer.

**~X~**

"What can we do to make Papa feel better?" Henry asked the next morning, as he snuggled with Emma on the big bed, after Neal had left to _'buy some food and clear my mind'._

"I don't know, kid." she said with a sight. It broke her heart to see him so lost.

"Do you think we are going to be able to break the curse?"

Emma looked at him, curiously.

"I thought it was my curse and I was the one supposed to break it."

"Mom, we are family. We do everything together, so if it is your mission, it is also ours."

That touched her, and she hugged her little boy tightly. And at that moment, a decision was made on her mind.

"I love you, Henry. I love you and your dad more than I ever imagined I would love someone. And if anyone tries to mess up with our family, they will get in serious trouble."

"Does that mean..."

"We need to trace a plan to save the rest of our family." she whispered, like she didn't believe she was actually saying that. "We need a plan to break the curse."

**~X~**

Emma planned on telling Neal about her decision as soon as he got home. But she never got the chance because some hours later, when she was folding some clothes and Henry was reading a book, they heard pounding on the front door.

"It's the police, open it up!"

She gasped. Her mind went on survival mode – they needed to escape. With the practice of years, she got a suitcase and stuffed it with important things – that were already separated on the closet, as an emergency kit. Henry got his own emergency backpack then she grabbed Henry's arm and asked him to follow her instructions.

They went down the fire scape as silently and quickly as they could and as soon as they got to the bug, they left.

"What about papa?" Henry asked, scared. "What if he comes back?"

Emma threw her cell phone on the back seat.

"Send him a text. The party is over, meet me at the diner."

"What does that mean?"

"He will know. We need to leave, kid."

Henry punched the keys on the cell phone and Emma looked around frantically. Why was the police looking for them? Was it Neal's watches again? Or the last few stealing when they were both without a job some months before? Or did it have nothing to do with them at all? Well, she was not going to risk it.

They had been moving so frequently that she didn't know where to go them. She liked Georgia, they had been in Atlanta for almost one year then. As soon as she picked Neal up they would decide were to go. Maybe they could drive north. Maryland? Maybe farther?

"Where do you think we should go this time?" she asked as Henry returned the cell phone, trying to calm herself down by calming him down. The boy had a collection of magnets for each state they passed by, a way she and Neal found to make their gipsy life at least fun for him.

"What about Maine?" the boy asked as Emma saw Neal on their rendezvous place. "I read a book about it the other day, it seems cool. Besides, I don't have the magnet yet!"

"Maine? But it is so cold!"

"Hey!" Neal greeted as he entered the car "Everyone ok? Did you have time to get the suitcase?"

"Yeah." Emma answered, driving away.

"I got my backpack, and the book." Henry said proudly.

"Good job, son." Neal complimented, messing up his hair and Emma's heart flinched a little by thinking that no kid should be prepared to run away from the police, and be congratulated for doing that right.

"Were are we headed to?" Neal asked as Emma took an exit to the interstate.

"Your son says Maine." Emma said, wrinkling her nose.

"Oh, I could use some lobster right now."

"You guys can't be serious. Rain and cold, that is pretty much Maine."

"Oh, come on Em. It is almost fall, it is going to be beautiful. We can enjoy a family trip, huh?"

"Two against one, mom! The boys won!" Henry shouted, doing a victory dance.

"You guys always win." Emma said, pretending she was upset. "I need someone else on my team to make things even!"

"Cool! Can I have a sister?" Henry suggested.

Neal laughed and Emma watched him, mouthing 'not happening'.

"Maybe one day, pal." he said, his memory returning to the curse they needed to break.

Well, they still had one year to think about that. Maybe after they got to Maine they would put a plan together. Who would say?


	5. A curse? Ok, I will take a long walk and

**Ending 3 -**** A curse? Ok, I will take a long walk and let Emma deal with this. See ya!**

* * *

_Staring at the bottom of your glass  
Hoping one day you will make a dream last  
The dreams come slow and goes so fast  
You see her when you close your eyes  
Maybe one day you will understand why  
Everything you touch all it dies  
**Let her go - Passenger**_

He had been having nightmares.

Emma would wake him up and Neal would be sweating. She was worried with him, but he told her it was nothing. Nightmares were something normal in his life. He hadn't had them since he met Emma, but it looked like they were back. This time the nightmares were not about his dad anymore, they pictured Emma leaving him, or he standing on the dark by himself, unable to find anyone. Sometimes it would be Emma fighting with him, shouting he was selfish by eliminating the only chance she would ever have to be happy.

And that was making him frustrated and tired. He couldn't stop feeling guilty, even if he repeated in his mind that it would be worse to leave his family behind.

They were close to Henry's birthday, but he hadn't buy anything since he had lost his job not so long before. It was not the better job of all, carrying furniture for delivery, but it was an income. He had thought about just staying home and making a cake for the boy, but Emma had worked a double shift on the past three weeks so they could have some extra money, and she said Henry deserved a lunch out.

Because he had been frustrated, and adding the fact he couldn't find another job, he and Emma hadn't been on the best of the terms. They were trying to act normal around Henry, but their conversations had been short and cold when the boy was not around. He couldn't open himself up to her, tell her exactly why he was feeling so miserable lately, so she couldn't understand why he was acting the way he was.

The restaurant offered face paint for the kids and as Henry went to the lady to have an 'amazing spider man face paint', Emma turned to Neal.

"What is up with you, Neal?"

"What do you mean?"

"You have not been yourself lately. Can you at least pretend you are happy, for Henry's sake?"

"I am sorry." was all he said.

She waited. He didn't say anything else. She sighed.

An uncomfortable silence followed, and he shifted on the seat, finally saying:

"I will go outside for a bit... clear my mind."

"Yeah, do that." Emma said in a sharp tone.

Neal left the restaurant and kicked the first trash can he saw.

"So much anger!"

He turned around. Oh, great, just who he wanted to see. The man that began all of that.

"Why, August? Why did you fuck me up?"

"I didn't do anything. If you think things are fucked up, maybe that is a sign. You, better than anyone one else, knows that everything comes with a price. And it is your decision that will dictate the way you are going to pay this price."

Neal sat against the wall, sighing.

"Why now? I thought we could finally just be happy."

"Neal, there is a curse."

At that, Neal's eyes shot up.

"Emma is the one destined to break it. She needs to stay in track to do so."

"What is this curse?" he asked, resigned. If there was something messing up with his life, of course it would be related to magic.

"The Evil Queen spelled it, to destroy all happy endings. Emma is the savior, the one that is going to break it."

"Yeah? Who predicted so?" Neal asked, already knowing the answer.

"Rumpelstiltskin."

Neal sighed. It was too messed up to not have the fingers of his father on it.

"I was send to take care of Emma."

"And did a shitty job."

"I haven't been the best of protectors, but I am here now. I want her to break this curse so we can go back home."

They were quiet for some seconds, and August was surprised when he heard Neal laughing. He looked at the other man. Neal was laughing out of nerves.

"Maybe it is my destiny to never have a family, right? Magic always catches up with me and ruins everything."

"Just wait some years..." August said in a low tone, as some people were passing by them to reach the restaurant. "The curse will be broken when Emma turns 28. As soon as she fulfills her mission..."

"Henry is going to be ten." Neal whispered, sad. He would miss so much of his son's life. But then, what would be better? Stay with them and keep living that half life, paying the price of not letting Emma know her family, help her people? What would his son think of him if he knew his dad didn't sacrifice himself for them? Henry would think he was a coward. And that was something he didn't want to be.

"Can I at least see them once in a while? From a distance, I mean." the tone of his voice was emotionless, resigned. "I couldn't bare not to know how they are doing."

"As long as you don't interfere, it is fine."

Neal nodded, but didn't say anything. What made him feel worse was leaving Henry without a father. It was going to be for just 5 years, he told himself. _5 years, then we can be together again._

"I don't know what is the better way to do this." he confessed, thinking about Emma, that had enough abandonments on her life already.

"You are doing it because you love them Neal, because you want them to have a full life. But Emma can't know that for now, or you are not going to be able to leave."

Neal closed his eyes. That answer was clear enough - He would need to act like a jerk.

"She is going to hate me."

"Not forever. She is going to be thankful that you helped to bring her home, to bring all of us home."

Neal was staring at August. He wrinkled his forehead.

"Who are you, by the way?"

August smiled, then began to leave.

"You will know."

August left. Neal stayed on the same spot, his chest heavy as he thought about what he needed to do next. _It is for a good reason_, he told himself.

**~X~**

He began his plan by acting even more distanced and miserable than before. He could tell it was getting to Emma's nerves, and that was good. Well, not good actually, but it was good for the plan.

The next week was stressful. Emma was working a double shift on the restaurant again. Neal took the opportunity to spend as much time with Henry as he could. But, at Emma's eyes, he was just postponing the search for a job. She would get home, kiss an asleep Henry, take a shower and go to bed. Neal would stay awake until late, trying to avoid the nightmares, thinking about what he would do with his life without his family.

"I am so tired of this." Emma exploded one day. It was almost three in the morning and he entered the bedroom thinking she was already sleeping. He turned on the light on the night stand.

"Tired of what?"

"I am working sixteen hours, Neal! Sixteen hours! I barely see my son, because I leave before he wakes up and I get home after he goes to bed! I can't stop working, because if I do so, there is no way we can even afford to buy food! And you don't do anything, you don't even talk to me! I mean, what the fuck? We used to be such a great team!"

It is ok, Em. I am right here, we are going to pass through this together, like we always did.

That's what he wanted to say.

"I am not happy." was what he said instead, shrugging.

"What do you mean?" she shouted, anger in her voice.

"Maybe it was a mistake." he said, not looking at her, thinking about August coming around and telling him about the curse, so she wouldn't detect the lie. He wished it was a mistake on August's part. "I may need... some time."

There was a moment of silence, but still, he didn't look up. He couldn't bare to see Emma brokenhearted. But her next sentence was spitted with anger.

"You coward!"

He closed his eyes tightly. That was what could made him feel the worst.

"You can leave, Neal! Leave right now! I don't need you, I am the one that have been doing everything anyway!"

"Em..." he said, hating to part like that. Oh, he wished he could tell her the true.

"Don't Em me! Get out!" He finally looked at her, and her face was contorted in fury, but he could also see some traces of pain.

She shoved him.

"What are you doing?"

"You are not sleeping here, get out!"

"But... where am I going to sleep?"

She opened the door, pushing him out.

"Not my problem!" she yelled, and closed the door.

Neal's shoulders dropped and he rested his forehead against the closed door. He did it, didn't he? His plan was perfect. They were both brokenhearted.

He knew Emma pretty well, and that was not the first time they had a big fight. If, on the next day, he came back and apologized, it would take some work, but she would eventually forgive him. Emma was fierce in love and fight, and he loved her for that. But that was the exact reason why he couldn't come back on the next day and apologize.

He would sleep on the car – unlocking doors without a key was his expertise. Then, on the next day, he would come back to get some of his things. Emma would probably ask the neighbor to pick Henry up at school and stay with him until she got back, and that's when he would come back. He touched his jeans – good thing he hadn't changed to go to bed when the fight began. His money was still there, the money he had earned by selling a big load of electronics he had stole. He would leave the money to Emma. At least that he could do.

**~X~**

He had one last thing to do before leaving. He couldn't go without letting his little boy know how much he was loved. That's why he stopped by Henry's school after grabbing his stuff on the apartment.

"Papa!" the little arms circled his legs tightly and Neal almost cried right then. "Are we going home early?" he asked, excited.

"Not today, buddy." Neal crouched to be at his son's eye level. "I have something for you. A gift."

Henry's eyes lit up as his father handed him a keychain. It was a cute little lion that he found on a shop. This time, he actually bought it.

"Take it as a belated birthday present." Neal said. "And a reminding of how much I love you, my lionheart."

They would sometimes call Henry that – baby lion or lionheart because since he was little he had this powerful lungs but also because, as he grew older, he showed them how much he was capable of loving and forgiving, and how faithful he could be.

"It looks like Mama's necklace!" Henry said in his childish voice "I loved it!"

He couldn't do that. He couldn't just leave the sweet boy that didn't know anything about heartbreak and misery. Not without some words.

"Henry, look at me. I need you to do something for me."

The boy looked at him, smiling sweetly.

"Sure, Papa!"

"Be a good boy, ok? Be good to your Mom, and make sure that she is happy. Papa needs to do something... he has a secret mission." he said, working really hard not to cry. "And he needs to take care of this mission by himself. But as soon as he is finished, he will be back."

"Are you leaving?" Henry asked, already pouting. "When are you coming back?"

"Soon, Henry. Very soon. Always remember that I love you, ok? I love you and your Mom more than anything in the world, and I would do anything for you guys."

"I love you more than I love ice cream!" Henry said, proud. "Are you going to bring me a gift when you come back?"

"Sure, son. I will bring even two." Neal said, tears finally filling up his eyes. "Now come here, give your old man a hug so you can go back to your classroom."

Henry did so happily. Neal hugged the boy tightly, trying to memorize the feeling of his little body on his arms. The next time he did that, Henry would be older, taller.

He couldn't bare the view of his son walking away down the hallway, carrying the little keychain like it was something really precious. Neal looked down, to his sneakers, and soon all he could see were two dark spots, because the tears were making everything blurry.

Five years, he told himself. Just five years.

**~X~**

He stole another car. It would be his home from that moment on. He was really careful with the process, just like he was when he stole the electronics. He would serve no good to Emma and Henry in jail.

He kept and eye on them. It was hard to watch from a distance what used to be his life. If Emma was disappointed, or sad, or heartbroken, she never showed that, at least not in public. He knew that was how she was.

August didn't show up anymore, but Neal wanted answers. He couldn't just sit on his ass for the next five years while he watched his family moving on without him. If August was not going to help him, there must be another person who could. If such a person existed, he was going to find it.

**~X~**

Three years. That is how long Neal had been looking for a guy called The Wizard, until finally finding him. The guy was in Seattle, for Christ's sake. The humid weather would have made Neal miserable, but not on that day. Nothing would make him miserable that day because he would finally meet the guy that could give him answers.

There was this little house on the back of a restaurant. As Neal went down the wet road, he looked around. If he looked back, he could still see the street, the cars passing by quickly. But inside... it was like another world. Trees and bushes and flowers surrounded him and the noise of water falling made him feel relaxed. And of course, the little house that looked more like a hut than anything else.

"Here to see the Wizard?" Neal almost jumped out of his skin. A tall boy he didn't realize was there was staring at him. The first thing he noticed was that the boy was holding an ax. The second was that he had a pile of firewood at his feet.

"Yes, I am. Can he see me?"

"If he is not taking a nap..." said the boy, dropping the ax and covering the firewood with a plastic cover. "What is your name?"

"Cassidy. Neal Cassidy."

The boy smiled.

"I mean your real name."

Neal blinked. The boy walked in the house's direction, waving for Neal to follow him.

"Bad past, huh? Well, that is fine, I can ask him your real identity later."

He laughed at that, but Neal kept silent.

"Merlin! There is a guy here to see you! Merlin!"

The hut was bigger than it appeared from outside. There was a big room that, it looked like, served as living room, kitchen and lab. There were papers, books, glasses and bowls everywhere. Three doors leaded to other rooms and the boy entered through one of them, his blond hair shining on the light a he disappeared.

Neal saw no seats, at least no seats that were not covered with papers or dirty kitchen utensils, so he awkwardly stood in the middle of the room. After two or three minutes the boy came out, saying that the Wizard was coming, then went back outside.

Neal was nervous. Merlin was his last hope. He had been looking for someone that could help him figure out how to break the curse, were to go to find the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest on that world with no magic.

"Are you the one that wants to see me?"

Neal looked up, and there he was, no long beard and hair like they used to picture on this world, but still, Merlin.

"Yes, Sir." Merlin was older than time and even if his figure just became more popular during the time he accompanied Arthur, when Neal was a kid he remembered stories of the old man that lived in a hut in the woods, alone, and had medicines for all kinds of evils, physical or not. When he first heard about a guy called The Wizard, he was sure it would be him.

Merlin tried to smooth his hair, he probably had been taking a nap like the boy said. He put his glasses on and took a look at Neal.

"Oh, it is you! I was expecting you earlier!"

"Expecting me?" Neal asked, confused.

"Yes! You are here for the book, aren't you? Hold on, I have it somewhere around... here." he turned to a table with so many items that the wood board was curved under its weight.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you have an important part on helping to break the curse."

"I do?"

"Of course you do. Just like your dad had an important part on helping to cast it." Merlin said, throwing papers everywhere.

Neal made a face to that, but he tried to focus on the important things.

"And what is my paper on this? I was told I should leave Emma, so she could fulfill her destiny, and I did so."

"Ah, here it is!"

The wizard pulled a big, hard covered book and smiled.

"Here you go." he said, handing Neal the book like that was all the men needed.

"Once upon a time." Neal read on the cover. "What do I do with this?"

"Give it to the true believer, of course. He is the other piece on this puzzle, he has a major role in breaking the curse."

"The true believer?" Neal asked, wrinkling his forehead as he flipped the pages of the book.

"It is not an easy task to break a curse of this magnitude." Merlin said, as he looked for something under the pile of papers. "You need all the pieces to be successful. The Savior, the True Believer, the Protector, the Messenger. You need to help the True Believer, he is going to be the one to convince The Savior about the curse."

Neal kept staring at him, not understanding.

"You know what to do, son. So go ahead and... ha! I've been looking for this!" Merlin took an old pipe from under the papers, smiling triumphantly.

"It is not really clear what I need to do." Neal insisted. "I mean, where are the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest? How does Emma get there and break the curse?"

"I already gave you what you need." Merlin said, lightning his pipe. "What else do you want me to do, break the curse for you?"

"That would be great." Neal said with a hint of irony. He looked at the old wizard. "How did _you _scape the curse?"

"Like I was going to stick around with those threats flying back and forth. I may be old, but I am not dumb yet."

Neal smiled to that.

"What are you waiting for, young man? Two years is a time much too short. You have things to do, so go!"

"Thank you for your help, Merlin."

"Sure. Just don't forget to invite me over when that beautiful girl of yours is born. You may want to consider teaching your kids magic."

Neal froze on the place, but the word magic made him answer.

"Ahh...I don't think so. If it depends on me no child of mine will even know what is magic."

"It is kind of impossible with the mother they have." Merlin said distracted, making rings of smoke in the air.

And that was the last thing Neal heard from the old wizard before living.

**~X~**

Neal sighed in relief when he arrived in Atlanta and checked on Emma – going to work after dropping Henry of at the bus stop. He always investigated if they were going to stay on the place for longer before doing his trips. He had learned who were the right people to ask for information, and if they did move, he would know. But he was always afraid of losing track of his family.

As he sat on the car staring at the book on his hands, he thought about what Merlin had said. When he was coming back, Neal read the book. It probably covered 400 years of their history in the Enchanted Forest. Some things he knew very well – like his own story – but some were new. It was good to see all of Emma's story explained. Her parents loved her so much, and it must had been really hard for them to leave her by herself – just like it was hard for him to do the same. There were some people, on the other hand, that he was not happy with. Pinocchio was on the top of his list. If the boy took the place of Emma's Mom he could at least had taken care of her. But he didn't even stick around. Oh, the next time August showed up he would have it.

Even if the stories were clearer, what Neal needed to do next wasn't. He still had a hard time believing that what Merlin told him was all true. Or the parts that Merlin actually told him. The guy knew how to be enigmatic.

Neal's watch biped, and he took a look – three o'clock. Henry would be home soon.

Sure enough, some minutes later he saw the school bus making a turn on the corner. Emma was already waiting for Henry. The boy got out of the bus, and he was so tall! Emma hugged him, took his hand and they walked home, Henry skipping, Emma holding his backpack. At certain point he began to speak. Neal could tell the boy was telling a story because his hands shot up and down, something he did when he got excited. Neal could picture his son telling her about a book he read at school, or maybe a story he made up about another kid or a situation. The boy had such a vivid imagination. He would talk about his stories like they were real, like he believed...

Neal's line of thought stopped.

Like he believed they were real. Henry always believed his stories were real. He was a true believer.

Neal looked down, to the book on his hands. It looked like a fairytale book for kids. A book his son would love.

_The true believer has a major role in breaking the curse._

Of course! Henry was everything Emma wasn't on this aspect. And he also happened to be Emma's biggest weakness.

He needed to deliver the book to his son.

**~X~**

Neal thought about how he could do that. He decided that giving the book in person was not an option. Henry was eight now. Older and smarter. There would be questions. He couldn't mess up the plan after years of working on it.

No, he needed to find another way.

In the end he stuck with the simple. He wrapped the book as a gift, put Henry's name on it and paid a kid to leave it at their apartment's door. After that, he waited patiently. Sure enough, some days later, Henry was going to school with the big book under one arm. That made Neal smile.

**~X~**

Neal was seating on a bench, hiding behind a newspaper like a cartoon character. Henry just got out of the school bus. He was caring Merlin's book under one arm, like he had always been doing lately. He hugged Emma, that was waiting for him on the sidewalk, then said something. Neal saw her frowning and recognized that as her expression of disbelief. The bus left, and Neal could see better then – Henry opening the book, pointing to something, saying something. He smiled. _The true believer. _But of course, Emma laughed, shook her head. Henry insisted, and Emma said something back. He couldn't hear what was being said but he didn't need to. It was just like boiling water, both of them were getting more and more frustrated and soon were yelling.

"Mom! You need to believe me! We have to help your family!" the shouts could finally be heard and Neal dropped the newspaper, watching intently. They had two years until Emma's birthday, now was the time to make her believe. He shouted in his mind _you need to believe him, baby. Believe in him so we can be together again._

"Stop it, Henry!" She took the book from the boy's hands, and she was crying. She put the book on the bench by her side and held her son's shoulders, saying:

"It is just a book! It is not real!"

Neal watched as Henry's shoulders dropped – a sign that he was giving in. Emma held the boy's hands, pulling him to walk with her, to walk away, leaving the book behind...

Neal's chest was filled with a frozen feeling. She couldn't do it! She couldn't make Henry stop believing! That was their hope! The book, they were leaving the book behind!

At first he acted without thinking. But as he crossed the street with wide steps, he became more resolute. Merlin said he had a paper on breaking the curse. He said he needed to help the true believer out – the true believer would be the one to make Emma finally accept her destiny.

Neal reached the bench and took the book on his hands, enjoying the familiar weight of it. Emma and Henry had walked 50 feet or so, so he shouted:

"You forgot your book!"

Emma stopped on her tracks, but didn't turn around. Henry, on the other hand, turned around and smiled.

"Papa!"

The boy ran to him, almost making him fall with the tight hug. Neal hugged him back, tears on his eyes. Three years since he last did that. The last time, Henry barely reached his hip. Now he was almost reaching his chest.

"Neal?" Came the tight, sharp voice of Emma.

"Emma." he said, a smile between tears.

She came closer, but didn't smile.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left us."

"Never completely."

"I told you, Mom, I told you he was around!" Henry cried happily. "You left the book for me, didn't you Papa?"

Neal smiled even more. There was no doubt his boy was the true believer Merlin referred to.

"Yes, Henry. I was the one that left the book for you. Do you know who gave it to me?"

Henry shook his head no, looking at his father mesmerized.

"Merlin, the wizard. He said it was your destiny to own the book."

"Wow!" Henry said. But soon after asked. "Merlin was from the Enchanted Forest? How did he escape the curse?"

"Well, he is Merlin." Neal answered with a wink.

Neal risked a look at Emma. He didn't have a clear plan on his mind, he was improvising, but well... that had always worked for him. In his life he had to learn to work with what he had in his hands.

"Henry, go home. I will catch up with you." Emma said, handing him the keys.

"But Mom.."

"Now, Henry!"

The boy sighed, gave another hug on his dad with a whispered `I love you`, took his book and left. He was holding the book close to his body, like expecting that Emma would snatch it from him, but she didn't say anything or do anything.

"Emma..." Neal said, after Henry had left and she got closer.

"What the fuck, Neal? You abandon us and come back some years later, talking about some fairy tale crap to win Henry out? Are you trying to turn him against me?"

"No, I am not! I am tel..."

"You know what? I don't want to know! Just stay away from us, will you?"

"I will not! Emma, three years ago I had no choice but to leave you. If I didn't do it, you would hate me, and with a reason. But things are more clear now. Now I know what we need to do, and I can help you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"One night this guy, August, came to talk to me. He told me about your destiny, and I was left with a big choice in my hands."

"August... like in August Booth?" Emma asked, wrinkling her forehead.

"Yeah. Do you know him?"

Emma sighed. August had came to talk to her one day at the street. He said they were in the same home when kids. He said he had been looking for her.

"Yes, I met him some months ago." she said in a small voice. "He is the boy that found me when I was a baby."

Neal smiled. August had been working to turn Emma into a believer then.

"So August also came to talk to you?" Emma asked.

"Yes, he did."

"And he told you all the crap about the curse?"

Neal looked up, and answered carefully.

"Emma, it is not crap. That's why I left, August told me that would be the only way for you to be able to break the curse."

"Yeah, right. And you believed him."

"Emma, he knew my real name. And I know from past experiences that you don't mess around with things like magic."

"Your real name... don't tell me that you share Henry's opinion that you were a Baelfire in another life."

Neal was a little surprised with that, but as he thought about that, he decided he shouldn't be. Henry got the book, and he was a smart boy.

"I am Baelfire, just like I am Neal. But I abandoned the name when I was 14, and no one knew that. No one until August."

Emma held her temple, closing her eyes.

"It is one thing to hear this from an eight-year-old boy. It is another, totally different, to hear it from two grown men."

"Why do you think we would make this up? Why would I leave you, for God's sake, if it wasn't true?"

"I don't know. Maybe you didn't like me anymore. Maybe you got tired of our life."

"Emma, that is not true. I didn't want to leave, but I got no options left."

"Yeah. Just like me right now. Bye, Neal."

"Em..." he called, but she turned around and kept walking. Once more she held her temple and Neal saw when she stopped by a store, like bracing herself. What was the matter?

He sighed. He thought he wouldn't need to follow her from a distance anymore, but it looked like he needed. Just to assure that she would get home ok, he thought.

She kept walking slowly, sometimes stopping as he followed. They got to the condo and he saw her entering the building. He was still alert thought, and it took him some time to realize why. The building had apartments on the floor level, all the doors facing a big patio were kids rode their bikes. There were two policemen talking to one woman. They had notepads. They had guns.

Oh, fuck.

Maybe it was his paranoia with police, or maybe his guts were telling him he needed to do something. Whatever the reason, he entered the condo and followed Emma up the stairs.

She was almost by the door of her apartment.

"You followed me?" she asked, as soon as she saw him.

"Not the point. Tell me, did you do anything on the last months to justify cops looking for you?"

"Why do you ask?" she said, careful.

"There is a couple of guys downstairs, asking questions. Any reason for us to be worried?"

She ignored the way he said _us_, just like they were still a team, still together.

"Maybe." she gave in.

Neal sighed.

"Get Henry, leave through the fire scape. You have the emergency suitcase, right?"

"Yeah. What are you going to do?"

"I will stay behind. If it is false alarm, I will let you know. If it isn't... well, I can always play the role of the new boyfriend that doesn't know anything."

"Neal..."

"Emma, take Henry and go. Now!"

She closed her eyes tightly, and when she opened then, she had a determined expression.

"Ok."

**~X~**

Half an hour had passed since Emma left and Neal thought he was safe. But then came a knock on the door.

Police officers always made him nervous but he had learned to act cool around them. He opened the door and acted surprised.

"Good afternoon. May I help you?"

"We are looking for Emma Swan." one of the man said, in his low tone. "We were informed she lives here."

"She is not home." Neal said "Is there anything I can help you with?"

He saw the two men exchanging a look, then the first one put his hand on the door, forcing Neal to open it, and entered the apartment. They took a look around.

"Don't you need a warrant for that?" Neal asked.

"How are you related to Emma Swan?" One of the policeman, the shorter one, asked him.

"We date. I come over sometimes."

The other police officer was talking through a walkie talkie and Neal didn't like to hear the word `reinforcements` coming from his direction.

"We will ask you to come with us to the police station." he said after he took a look in the apartment.

"What is the matter? What did Emma do?"

"Some shop lifting two weeks ago. But it was linked to bigger stuff some years ago."

"Really? Like what?" Neal asked, trying not to look nervous.

"Cars, watches, electronics. It is a big list."

Neal agreed, worried. If they had linked past Emma with present Emma that was bad. And not just for her.

"Come on, pal, let's go."

He had no choice but go to the police station.

**~X~**

One year behind the bars. Oh, well. The important thing was, Emma would not need to run away from the police anymore. And, when he left prison, they would be one year from breaking the curse.

That's what he thought. He thought he would left prison and look for her. But he never imagined she would actually visit him.

"Why did you do it?" she asked. "Why did you pay for both of our crimes?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked with a smile. She still doubted he loved her.

"You could have just left... they would not link you to me."

"But then you and Henry would need to keep running away, just like we did for so many years. You deserve better than that, Emma."

"Why... why did you leave?"

He sighed, looking down to his hands and shrugging.

"Because I love you."

She cried.

"I love you and, one day, things will be alright again." he whispered.

It took some time, but she answered.

"I just... I don't understand. You leave us, then you go to jail for us?"

Neal sighed. Then he finally looked up.

"Emma, do you trust me?"

She took some time to answer, but her eyes never left his eyes. She had reasons enough not to trust him anymore and he could see there was a battle going inside of her. She finally answered.

"I do." she said softly.

"So believe that there is something major going on, something that made my leaving mandatory. Something that is going to be worth it in the end."

"Ok." she said, but he knew she was not totally sure. "When are you going to tell me the whole story?"

"When you are ready." he said with honesty.

She nodded, looking at her hands.

"You are going to be here for one year."

He agreed, also looking to his own hands.

"After that... when you leave... Henry and I will be waiting for you."

His eye shot up at that. He searched her eyes, hopeful.

"You... are you serious?"

"I missed you so much, Neal. I could tell there was something going on, something you weren't sharing with me."

He smiled, not believing it. Then he remembered about Henry.

"Em, just do me a favor. Don't restrain the little guy's imagination. Don't take away his book, don't make him believe that such things are silly. I don't want him losing his innocence too soon like we did."

She looked at him, trying to understand where the pledge came from. But she eventually nodded.

"I will do that. And you, behave well. As soon as you leave this place we can go somewhere else. We can let Henry point a place on the map, just like the old days, and drive. Buy him a state magnet, stop on a fast food restaurant and read curiosities about the new state."

Neal smiled, the image making his chest warm up.

"Sounds like a great plan."


End file.
